


Time Loops and Their Consequences

by LotuxOfLotus



Category: The Advanced Player of the Tutorial Tower
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, LIKE EVER, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicidal Thoughts, Time Loop, Uh first work, he can't interact with the other people, i'm like preemptively jumping onto this fandom when there is almost NO canon story so, kind of, so sorry for the suckiness, there's no way this CAN'T be OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28757892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotuxOfLotus/pseuds/LotuxOfLotus
Summary: Being isolated for twelve years does things to a person.Mostly bad things. But the inhuman strengthwasa plus.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Time Loops and Their Consequences

It wasn’t fun anymore.

Actually, was it ever fun? Was it, this, something he ever enjoyed? Years - _and years and years and **years**_ \- ago, he’d thought something about it. He wasn’t sure, time had dulled and melted those memories until there were all one mash-up of hopeful ignorance and _~~alone so, so alone,~~_ but he was sure about that. Was it good? or bad? That was what he had no idea about.

 _Was it fun?_ He asked his mind once more, again to no effect. _Did I enjoy this?_ No answer came back, and he was left with the same question.

He despondently opened his status window, staring at the words that taunted him for the past 12 years.

[You have been cursed by the tower.

This is your 1,349th loop!]

Hyeonu chuckled a bit, though the situation was far from humorous. Every time after each loop he looked, flicked his eyes down hoping that maybe, _just maybe_ it was finally over, it greeted him, like an old friend - or maybe an old enemy. The world’s worst reality check.

He closed the window, his slight humor quickly turning to annoyance. Hyeonu stared at the drab grey bricks surrounding him. But with nothing else to turn to, his brain quickly went back to the unanswerable question. The mind worked in circles, after all. And so did his life. A repeating joke that might not have even been funny when it had first been told.

He got up and stretched. Physically he was fine. Physically. Mentally though? He was straight up fucked. His life was ruined by this stupid tower. It seemed almost sentient in it's hatred for him. 

Hyeonu had a lot of spare time. That was probably the one thing he gained from this whole thing. Besides some horrible emotional repression with a side of future awkwardness with every single person for the rest of his life - ~~If he had one.~~

So he resigned himself for another run of the tower. _But of course, that run will turn into another and another and ~~another~~ until eventually, you'll just become another monster in a sea of rotting flesh and inhuman forms. Yay. _ Well, what else was he supposed to do? Lie down and accept his death? 

_Yes._

Thank you brain, very original. But no, despite how _appetizing_ that offer seemed, he'd rather die by something other than himself, thank you. He'd went through a lot of loops ~~1,349 to be exact~~ , and look how fine he was doing now! He could survive a few more. 

_Physically, yes. Mentally though?_

Oh, shut up. 

  


\---

  


The act of completing the tower wasn’t much of a hassle, and as is customary with his success, at the end he’s covered with blood and other, more disgusting body viscera. He flicks most of the fluids off of his face, but doesn’t bother with the rest of his body. He’d gotten used to the feeling - a slick, blanket of warm. He wouldn’t say it aloud, but it was comforting, in a disturbing sort of way. And in the long run it didn’t matter, it all went away the moment he crossed the portal. So he moved on with his train of thought.

Nothing had changed this run - no new enemies, no secret areas, no people - and a hope he didn't even realize he still had wanned. No magic savior would drop down to save him, no monster would be strong enough to break the barrier surrounding the outer walls, and the tower wouldn’t just _suddenly_ remove the curse. 

He stood in front of the portal. It’s official, he’s stupid. Or stupidly optimistic deep down. He wished he could just stop hoping. Hope only gave way to disappointment in this place. And he’d be here for the foreseeable future, which might just be until the end of the world. 

_Oh well_ , he thought, annoyed. _Maybe I should really give up after all…_

He braced himself and stepped through the portal.

And right back onto the familiarly worn stone.

He stared down at his slippers, clean once more. They were still clean, even after 12 years of use. So was he. Clean on the outside, dirty on the inside. He wondered briefly if there was another reality, one where Hyeonu _didn’t_ remember the loops. Maybe he’d still be as arrogant as he started. Every time. Every loop. Every kill.

He touched his cheek and found it dry. He’d vaguely expected them to be wet with tears, for his body to start catching up with his mind, maybe feel the least bit sore - but nothing.

He laughed because there was nothing else to do. And when that stopped, he opened the status window. Not because he was expecting anything, but because it was tradition. Nothing ever changed, besides his stats. No skills, no spells, nothing.

So when he didn’t see the familiar text, he, dumbfounded, read the new line replacing that old frenemy.

[Endless loop removed!]

  


That was perhaps his fastest run.

**Author's Note:**

> first story on ao3!!! yay!!!
> 
> hopefully you didn't hate it too much. this was honestly just a weird creation made out of brain fog and depression, and i probably shouldn't post this because of how short this is but why not? 
> 
> ok peace


End file.
